Outdoor water faucets mounted on or adjacent the walls of buildings at approximately sill-height are commonly known as sillcocks, hose bibs or bibbs, spigots, garden valves, wall hydrants and a the like. For purposes of this disclosure, the term “sillcock” will refer to any suitable fluid handling device that may be used to implement the disclosed structures and methods.
Sillcocks are typically installed on an exterior wall at or near the sill of a home or other building to provide a threaded connection for a hose or a spout for filling a watering can. Conventional sillcocks include a faucet body having an inlet, an outlet or spout, and a flow control valve operably connected to a valve stem worked by a handle or key. In colder climates, frostproof sillcocks are commonly employed, in which the sillcock inlet end is connected to an elongate inlet pipe that extends through the foundation sill into the warmer building interior, where it is connected to a building supply pipe. The fluid control valve is positioned at the interior end of the inlet pipe and the valve stem is sized to extend from the faucet handle to the interior control valve.
In new construction, rough plumbing must be installed early, while the walls and floors remain. While it is common to temporarily cap kitchen and bathroom water supply lines to await the installation of cabinets and sinks, it is more efficient to install the exterior sillcocks as soon as the water supply lines are in place. However, sillcocks installed while a building is still under construction are vulnerable to damage by inadvertent impact from tools, equipment, and construction materials during the installation of sheathing, siding, brick or stonework, decking, concrete or stonework patios and walkways, and foundation landscaping. They may also be fouled by viscid materials such as mortar, concrete and paint. When this occurs, the entire sillcock assembly may need to be removed and replaced.
Both during and after construction, buildings and homes are frequently left unattended for extended periods of time during which the water may be turned on without permission of the owner. Even when a building or home is occupied, sillcocks are generally not visible from the inside because of their location on the exterior at or adjacent the top of the sill. In commercial and industrial applications, attempts have been made to address this by the use of a “loose key” assembly, in which a special tool is required to operate the faucet. In one example, a cylinder with a coaxial square peg is substituted for the sillcock handle. A key having a square socket may be inserted over the peg to open and close the faucet, and removed when not in use. This solution has also been employed by homeowners adjacent beach areas to prevent passers-by from using the home sillcocks for rinsing sand from their feet. Some homeowners curtail this practice by removing the sillcock handles. While effective, both loose keys and handle removal can lead to the loss of the key or handle required needed to operate the sillcock. Attempts have been made to equip conventional sillcocks with friction-fit nipples that can be screwed into the sillcock, inserted inside the building water supply pipe, and held in place by bolts. Such nipples do not protect the water supply pipe from freezing and rupture, and subsequent removal of the sillcock requires access to the interior of the building and disruption of the water supply.
Thus, there is a need for a frostproof sillcock having a faucet body that can be selectively removed from the exterior of a building and disengaged from a fluid control valve that remains in place in the interior of the building, and that can be reinstalled, all of which can be accomplished easily from the exterior of a building, without the need for access to the building water supply pipe or disruption of the water supply to the sillcock valve.